Elijah Ramsay, 24, was made redundant last year, leaving him struggling to pay bills on top of his debts.
He was so embarrassed at losing his job that he didn’t even tell his parents and had to return the ring he originally bought to propose to his girlfriend Binafsha Malekzadeh.
But now, after winning a financial freedom challenge, he has picked up the keys to his own house and has become engaged to his long-time girlfriend.
The challenge was Elijah’s prize for winning The Eviction, an Apprentice-style competition for aspiring real estate entrepreneurs.
Samuel Leeds, a multi-millionaire property developer and trainer, spent a week with the budding young businessman teaching him how to speak to agents and negotiate deals.
Elijah says he not only bought a house in Burnley at a knockdown price of £54,000 during the week, but since then he has sold a “ton” of property deals to wealthy investors.
He said: “I’ve made around £16,000 from selling them and I’m looking to buy another house there, as well as doing a joint venture in London.”
Before going into property, Elijah, who graduated with a first-class honours degree in architecture from University College London, was earning £22,000 a year.
His break came when he spotted an advertisement for The Eviction, run by Samuel Leeds Education, and was picked from hundreds of applicants to take part.
He beat nine other contestants from around the country to win the contest after tackling a series of gruelling investment tasks which tested his skills and resilience.
The contest took place over five weeks in a country hotel in Cambridgeshire being developed by Mr Leeds’ company, with participants living on site.
Each week two people were evicted until Elijah finally emerged triumphant.
Getting on the property ladder is a dream come true for the deal sourcer who receives a commission every time an investor buys a property he has found.
He can expect to earn upwards of £3,000 or two per cent of the purchase price if there is land attached.
Mr Leeds, 33, left school at 16 with nothing, expecting to become a binman.
However, he discovered he had a talent for making money which was not something he was able to study at school.
Today his net worth is estimated to be £20m and he has a huge social media presence with his YouTube channel alone attracting 483,000 followers.
The father-of-four, who lives in Buckinghamshire, believes his protégé has a promising future ahead of him in the industry.
He said: “I’m very proud of Elijah.
“He has bags of energy and should do very well.
“The average person in the UK doesn’t buy their first property until the age of 37 and Elijah’s been able to do that in one week.
“On top of that he’s started his own company and is generating an excellent income for himself.
“It shows what you can do in a short space of time with the right guidance and mindset.
“Since the challenge Elijah has also made an extra £17,000 and is currently involved in a joint venture on a buy, refurbish, refinance project which looks like being very lucrative.”
A YouTube video of Elijah Ramsay’s financial freedom challenge has attracted more than 165,000 views, turning him into something of a celebrity figure.
He said: “I’m being spotted left, right and centre when I’m out by investors wanting to discuss business projects with me.”
